DaveX - A Zombie Horde (125 Points)

Hi I'm DaveX, you may remember me from such Challenges as 2018 and 2019. Well now I am back and it is a really nice community to be part of. I have spent the last few days going through everyones amazing submissions so far. For my first post, I have not submitted something under the AHPC Studios challenge however I have many ideas for it. I am a HUGE fan of Zombicide and I kickstarted the 2nd Edition. Zombicide is the ultimate gateway game into miniature wargaming. My OCD does not allow me to play a game unpainted so I am yet to play 2nd Edition. I recently sold my 100% painted Zombicide First Edition with some expansions to free up some space. So here we have 25 Walkers ready to be played! For anyone who has played Zombicide, walkers have an extremely short life on the table and are often dispatched quickly. As there is so many of them (40 in the box) i give them a simple yet effective paint scheme. My technique is as follows: Prime Black

Zenithal Spray White

Army painter speed paints blocking in

Drybrush with a shade of Khaki/Light Brown Pick out eyes, teeth, equipment etc. Paint Bases and add some pigments to the bases Varnish Cover mistakes etc with Citadel Blood for the Blood God

I think they look really nice with such a simple paint job. I have been using this technique for years now, especially for painting Zombie Hordes before a silly term for it was invented via youtube. I only have a few Fatties to paint and then I will put some effort into the Player Characters. I can finally play my game :D So we are looking at: 25 x 28mm Zombies @ 125 Points. Not a bad way to kick off the challenge.

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First, welcome back to the Challenge Dave!

I agree, Zombicide is hella fun, and your recipe for fast-paint zombies (slap chop, dare I say) is brilliant. Very effective and eye-catching, I think. I will definitely take this to heart when I next have to do a similar horde army. (In fact, I'm actually doing something similar for a set of entries later down the Challenge.) 

I look forward to the upcoming Fatties and the player characters!

- Curt

From SimonM: Cybermen by "Big Mr Tong" (25 points) + Sci-Fi Studio Bonus (20 Points)

These five 28mm scale Cybermen were sculpted by "Big Mr Tong" and can be downloaded for free as part of a ten-figure set of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from his "Patreon" subscription service. Based upon Eric Saward's incarnation of the Mondasians as first seen in his March 1982 "Doctor Who" story "Earthshock", the miniatures were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer.

Having been washed, cured and then removed from their supports (applied through "Chitubox" Basic following each figure being rotated at a thirty degree angle), the silver giants were undercoated in "Citadel" Abaddon Black and given a double-helping of "Vallejo" Gunmetal. The models were then washed using "Citadel" Nuln Oil, dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal, and treated to a combination of "Scalecolor" Speed Metal and "Citadel" Flesh Tearers Red on their hand-weapons’ power cylinders.

I thought these figures would be a great way to start my journey through Challenge Studios, starting off at the Science Fiction filming lot.

Five x 28mm scale foot figure = 25 Points

Science Fiction Studio Bonus = 20 Points

Total = 45 Points

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Haha! I knew you'd have a Doctor Who themed entry for us for the Sci-Fi studio. In fact, I'm wondering how you may fit Mr. Who and your encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes into most of the themed locations this year. ;P

I have to say I was a bit taken aback as I thought the Cybermen's sculptor's name was 'Big Mr Thong', thinking, 'Now, there's an appellation', but I regrettably my glasses were far down my nose and I misread :). 

Great work Simon!

From ScottC: High Adventure - Harry Dresden and Snow Yeti's (46 points)

A double whammy for ScottC this week

For my journey through the Studio I knew that my High Adventure had to be Harry Dresden and I had the perfect models lined up for him to face. 

I had a lot of fun painting this group of miniatures. Last year I read through the Harry Dresden book series and desperately wanted to find a miniature to represent him on the tabletop. Prior to owning my 3d printer I had used a reaper miniatures bones figure, but it never felt quite right. Now that I was able to print STL files I actually made this character using Heroforge. 

The yeti are Reaper Bones figures on 40mm bases.

All in all, a very fun group and a painted Harry Dresden just looks so darn cool. What's not to love about a pyro-wizard that uses a revolver?

Next up, a mounted Boromir to get me across the yellow brick road and some Western Figures from gunfighters ball for my "Historical Drama"

Points:

4x 28mm figures: 4x5 = 20 

AHPC Studio High Adventure completion: 20 points

Total: 40 points

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Nice entry, Scott! 

I'm not familiar with the Harry Dresden series, but I'm going to correct that as they sound like a lot of fun (and it extends trend of heroes named after geographical places). Love the Yeti (and why do all Yeti have blue faces?), and the flame on Harry's torch, which is brilliant, literally. 

I'm going to score the Yeti as 40mm figures as they look rather imposing next to Mr. Dresden.

Great work!

- Curt

ScottR English Civil War Command Bases 28mm (136 points)

Here are my completed English Civil War Command bases for the Royalist Scots - Irish Army under the Marguis of Montrose.

First off is the CIC, the Marquis of Montrose himself.  Standing around the table at the local hostel drinking ale with one of his sub-Commanders while the young bar lass brings more ale.  A young officer plays the violin. (Female figure is Colonel Bills figure - Becky Burton)

First Command  is Alisdair MacColla.  He is accompanied by some of his body guard including Maggie Maclean carrying one of his standards.  A young brash lassie. (Colonel Bills figure)

The next Command is Colonel James MacDonell mounted with one of his Colonels of Horse.  Young Big Arm Guy, drinking from his wine skin and filling the Colonels cup! Big Arm Guy is a conversion of a Warlord Games metal artillery figure.  removed his cleaning stave, put a kilt on him from green stuff, moved his stave arm and gave him a resin barrel.  then removed his hat and put on a bonnet.

Last but not least, and after all it is a Scots-Irish Army is Colonel Manus O'Cahan and his retinue.  Manus is in the company of one of his buxom sub commanders.  Lilleth of the Valley. (Colonel Bills figure - Molly Cutpurse)

19 by 28mm foot figures for 95 points

2 momunted figures for 20 points

3 female figures for ?? points

Total is 115 points .

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Wow, fabulous work on these command stands, Scott! I particularly like Montrose's base with the crowded table, fiddler and serving girl (also, any base with a dog on it gets extra points from me).  Very nice groundwork on all of these as well. I must say, Col. Bill must be a lascivious little satyr, as it seems most of his female figures are experiencing various forms of wardrobe malfunctions. I don't know how any of these commanders functioned with all these distractions. :) 

I've added a few more points for the banners, and as to the female figures, they are scored as other 28mm figures.

- Curt

From Millsy - Star Wars Legion - Studios x 2 (90 points)

G'day All!

What a thrill it is to be back in the Challenge saddle once again. I think this is my 11th event having missed the very first edition and the 2019 edition. Every year I'm as excited as a 7yo kid at Christmas and it's a wonderful thing to be so engaged by something as simple as painting toy soldiers and sharing them.

My first submission in 2022 is a couple of Challenge Studios lots, to help clear a bit of a backlog of Star Wars Legion stuff. There's more SWL toys inbound at Chez Millsy so moving some on early doors is a good thing!

Casting Couch - Cassian Andor and K-2SO

I've thoroughly enjoyed the recent Andor series and love a troubled hero. Seeing the development of the character made his Rogue One incarnation much more meaningful for me. I'm really liking the new darker, grittier Star Wars we're getting now and it's made me a much bigger fan of the milieu than the movies ever did.

More head tilts than a pair of huskies

Scoring: 2 x 32mm infantry + location bonus = 30 points.

1980s - 1.4 FD Laser Cannon and General Veers

The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 and remains my favourite of the films, despite the fact Tatooine remains me favourite location. My SWL project focuses on Mos Millsy so everything is being painted up desert-style regardless of origin. Growing up I had the official laser cannon toy that exploded in pieces when a button was pressed so this is a real nostalgia piece for me. Veers is also my favourite bad guy, seemingly unperturbed by the threat of Vader's wrath, calmly going about crushing resistance from his vantage point in the nose of an AT-AT.

OK Dave, was it you that swapped all the LEDs with pink ones?

Love your work Veersy mate!

Scoring: 5 x 32mm infantry + 1 x 32mm laser thingy + location bonus = 45 points.

So that's a tidy 75 points and half the minimum outer Studio locations knocked off.

Cheers,
Millsy

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Millsy!

Fabulous work on Andor and K-2SO. I especially like the dark armour sheen on the droid-buddy. I'm with you, Empire, Rogue One and Andor are my current Star Wars triumvirate. I loved the Rebel infighting in Andor, it has that 1936 Spain feel to it, where the Rebulicans were made up of a wildly disparate range of patriots, all fighting for their own reasons. I'm very much looking forward to the introduction of K-2SO in the series.

I laughed at your Mos Millsy comment. Great work on the cannon, crew and Veers. I loved that laser cannon toy! (though most examples I came across had several bits missing from rough play.) I think it's a good idea to stick to one colour of groundwork, so all your figures mesh together.

I'm going to score these as 40mm as that is what I've seen them listed as.

Great post Millsy!

- Curt 

From BenitoV: Multiperiod Rural Stone House (23 points)

Last year, my local club in Madrid made a huge bulk purchase of scenery including several 28mm scale buildings, some casted and 3D-printed in resin, and others prepainted MDF. Some club members were appointed "volunteers" to paint this models, and I was one of the lucky few. 

The truth is that the model has been sitting on my desk for many-many months now, always put aside by other priorities (procrastinating in other words)... until early in December this year, I got a dress down from the club Secretary. It was good that this coincided with the Challenge, as it provided a good motivation to finally undertake the project.

 

The model is a resin 2-storeys stone rural building with  removable roof and an internal floor plank  to place your models inside. It can be used for games set in very different periods, from probably the 18th century to today. Don't ask me for the manufacturer, I have no idea.

 

Instead of a dull sigle colour I decided to paint the stones in different shades and tones, very typical from the architecture in the colder and more humid north of Spain. 

As this is the first time since participating in the Challenge that I submitt a piece of scenery, I'm not 100% how the scoring works. My understanding is that fitting within a 6 x 6 x 6 (inches?) cube you get 20 points awarded. As shown in the photo, The bulding height and width is less than 6", but the lenght is 7"

To calculate the scoring, I have used the formula: 20 points + [(7-6)/6] x 20 = 23 points

Hope this is correct.

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You may have procrastinated on this terrain piece, Benito, but the results are more than worth the wait. I really like the varied warm tones you used for the exposed stone, along with the distressed plaster partially covering the two exterior walls. A lovely addition to the tabletop, I think.

Great work on getting this done for your club, Benito!

- Curt

From StuartL - Poles Apart - World Cinema - 45 Points

Hello again,

After a refreshing ride in Lady Sarah's Limousine, I have some models lined up to take to the stage at the World Cinema area of the AHPC Studio.

In the specifications for this area, our beloved Snow Lord suggested Samurai as an idea, but also said to paint minis "from elsewhere in the world from where you live now." I am fairly confident that there are a few other ex-pats in the challenge, so I am not paranoid enough to think that this line was directed at me personally (as I live in Japan, Samurai would have been an obvious option), but I am also not, not paranoid enough to believe that it wasn't a possibility.

 

So, I couldn't do anything Japanese, but I similarly didn't want to do anything British as that doesn't really seem very international to me either. So I decided to split the difference and went for something from central Europe, in this case, some WW2 Poles.

These are all metal models from Warlord Games' Bolt Action range. Many years ago my gaming group had a fair number of Bolt Action players. Most, myself included, opted for Late War armies as they were all available in plastic and we were interested in D-Day and the Normandy campaigns. However, one of the group members decided to buck the trend and bought an Early War Polish army, all in metal. He then proceeded to do absolutely nothing with it for a few years before eventually returning to his home in the States. Before he left, he passed his army on to me in exchange for some 40K stuff and it has been sitting almost untouched ever since.

These figures painted up very easily and I am happy with how they turned out. I did these as I was working on the Fire Giants in my last post and they made a great distraction when I was feeling burned out from painting those massive brutes. I don't really like cleaning up metal minis, much preferring the freedom that comes from multi-part plastics, but I do appreciate painting metals when they have such nice, crisp detail.

I opted for a lighter shade of uniform than the one suggested by Warlord (the above image is lifted from their store). I wrote down my recipe for these minis back in 2019 and stuck with it as it was super easy to do. A quick search online found examples of Polish uniforms in every shade of green conceivable, so I am guessing that there is no one, definitive colour.

For the scoring, this should be fairly straightforward.

5x 28mm minis @5 points = 25 Points

World Cinema @20 points = 20 Points

Total = 45 Points.

For my side duels, I'm going to claim 1 Squirrel Point for these 5 fellows defending their homeland against the German and Russian invaders.

My Side Duels:

Squirrels - 5

Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Dwarves, Fire Giants, WW2 Polish

Skullz - 0

Turnips - 0

Next up, another ride in the Limo.

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Stuart, you think too much - Samurai would have been fine, but these Poles are excellent. :) I especially like that you dug them out of stores from a trade from the distant past. I completely support your decision on painting them as you did. The mass manufacturing of uniforms was not a science at that time (knowing this from working in several archives/museums with uniform collections), and having job-lots that were of a slightly different tone was pretty common across all nations at the time. They look great!

I look forward to seeing your next female figure for Sarah's Limo!

- Curt

From ScottC: Under Construction - Easterling Drakes and Moria Goblins (80 points)

Hi guys,

For my "Under Construction" project, I wanted to finish off a couple of armies. 

Operation Easterling: 

I had put together an Easterling army from my good friend Quartermaster 3D who developed an entire army of evil men perfect for the job. I had fully painted and based my army last year and my only missing component were some appropriate drakes.

These figures are 3D printed by KZK miniatures. 28mm scale on 40mm bases.

Next up: Operation Moria. 

I had an entire Moria goblin army that I painted several years ago and I am constantly adding bits and bobs when I find more cool models. I suppose I have yet to paint my Balrog, one day I will get the courage to try flames on a model. BUT! I was thankfully able to finish off these goblins that were gathering dust.

These are 3D printed goblins by TPGEO. 28mm scale.

Little drummer boy, an appropriate winter mini.

A animal trainer shaman and a goblin with spear

Some top tier goblin captains

I love this guys barrel armour!

Points:

7x 28mm models: 7x5 = 35

5x 28mm "mounted figures": 5x5 = 25

AHPC Studio Under Construction completed = 20

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Great work Scott! I really like the looks of those drakes. They will look fab when the Easterling riders are put on them (note: they are scored as 5 as they currently have no rider). Also, I think those goblins are ace too. They have an early GW/Ral Partha look about them. I agree the barrel armour for the last guy is terrific.

- Curt